COA - Council On Accreditation

Volunteer Mentoring Services establish and support strong, friendly, helping relationships between selected volunteers and children, youth, or adults.

Note: Although these services are often provided by volunteers, agencies that provide mentors with travel reimbursements, stipends, or other forms of compensation can also be reviewed under this section.

Note: Please see Self-Paced_Training: Volunteer Mentoring Services (VM) in the Tools Index for additional assistance with this standard.

Research Note: Although some mentors adopt authoritative roles and attempt to reform individuals with whom they are matched, research examining mentoring relationships with youth suggests it may be more effective to develop supportive, respectful, and trust-based friendships with service recipients.


	PURPOSE: Individuals participating in Volunteer Mentoring Services develop supportive, positive relationships that contribute to the achievement of personal, social, and educational growth.

RELATED FILES

PA_VM Template.doc
NA Request.doc
PA-VM Reference List.pdf


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	SERVICE RECIPIENT The individuals, groups, organizations, or communities that use, receive, or benefit from programs and services. Service recipients can include consumers, patients, family members, legal guardians, advocates, public/private organizations, employers, and purchasers. All are regarded as significant stakeholders served in a variety of agencies and practice settings.